Sliding door hardware



SLIDING DOOR HARDWARE Filed Jan. 5, 1967 Sheet of 2 1 /4 0 INVENTOR. 32 1 KE/TH W. BEA/50M JR.

Feb, 9 K. w. BENSON, JR

SLIDING DOOR HARDWARE Sheet Filed Jan. 5. 1967 INVENTOR.

. BENSON United States Patent 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Sliding door hardware includes a track mounted above the door and a track follower mounted upon the track for movement therewith and adapted for supporting a hanger, which includes a clevis having a slot 'in its bottom. The slot has a portion that is orthogonal to the door. A bolt is mounted in the clevis with its head supported by the top of the clevis and its shank extending through the slot and through a hole in a cross-piece of the sliding door. To adjust the vertical position of the door, a nut is threaded upon the end of the bolt and supports the door from the bottom of the cross-piece. The bolt is moved laterally within the slot to adjust the lateral position of the door.

This invention relates to sliding door hardware and more particularly to sliding door hardware that is capable of providing lateral as well as vertical adjustment of the door relative to the door jamb.

The equipment for hanging some types of sliding doors includes a track, a track follower, and a hanger. The track is mounted to the top of the door jamb and extends parallel to the top of the door. The track followers movably engage the track. The hanger is attached at its upper end to the track follower and at its lower end to the top of the door to permit the door to slide parallel to the door jamb as the track follower moves along the track.

These hangers usually include a rod, the lower end of which is threaded and passes through a cross-piece at the top of the door or through a sleeve attached to the door, A nut is threaded onto the lower end of the rod and supports the cross-piece or the sleeve. It is threaded up or down on the rod to adjust the vertical height of the door.

Some of these hangers also include a provision for laterally adjusting the door. The lateral adjustment is desirable because the sides of the building having the sliding door may become warped with time. Unless the door can be adjusted laterally, the warped sides of the building bind against the side of the door causing it to resist sliding.

To provide for lateral adjustment of the door relative to the door jamb, the door is mounted eccentrically with respect to the track follower by an eccentric portion of the hanger. This eccentric portion of the hanger is turned to adjust the door laterally.

Some prior art hangers include a clevice that is mounted directly to the track follower A rod-like portion of the hanger includes an eccentric portion on top of the clevice or beneath the clevice. The eccentric portion may be formed beneath the clevice by otfsetting a portion of the rod that extends between the clevice and the door such that a goose-neck is formed. This type of hanger is disclosed in copending U.S. patent application S.N. 520,185 to George Banse, filed Jan. 12, 1966, and assigned to the same assignee as this application. In another arrangement, the eccentric portion may be formed on top of the base of the clevice by including a ring-shaped head in the top of the rod. The rod is straight and depends from the edge of this ring, The ring is then positioned around a boss projecting upwardly from the base of the clevice, which base supports the ring. With both of these mechanizations, angular rotation of the rod moves the door laterally.

Both of these types of mountings for the eccentric portion of the hanger cause the center of gravity of the door to be exerted at a location that is eccentric with the support for the rod-like portion upon the clevice. Stated another way, the rod-like portion exerts a force on the clevice through a lever-type action with the supporting point for the rod-like portion being on one end of the lever and with the weight of the door being exerted on the other end of the lever. Because of this lever action, it is diflicult to turn the rod-like portion of the hanger from position to position. The weight of the door acting on the lever at the support point tends to cause binding. This makes it difiioult to adjust the door laterally.

The goose-neck type of eccentric mounting causes an additional difficulty in installations subject to shifting of the floor due to frost heaves or other structural shifts in the building. The raising of the floor in these situations causes the door to move vertically. It is desirable for the door hanger to be constructed to freely permit a certain shifting in the vertical direction. However, the presence of the goose-neck limits the freedom of movement of the door in the vertical direction. The top of the door cannot extend beyond the bend of the goose-neck. If the heaving of the floor should be extensive enough to cause the top of the door to exert pressure against the bent portion of the rod, the rollers which form a part of the track follower are moved oil of the tracks.

The types of hangers which have an eccentric that includes a ring mounted above the base of the clevice suffer from an additional ditliculty. The rod-like portion of this type of hanger extends over the edge of the clevice. Lateral adjustment is achieved by moving this rod to and from the edge of the clevice as the rod is rotated. The inner lateral adjustment is limited by the edge of the clevice. The rod hits this edge and cannot be moved inward any further.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved hanger for sliding doors.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a hanger for sliding doors which includes an improved provision to radjusting the position of the door laterally with respect to the door jamb.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved hanger for sliding doors which permits a relatively large vertical motion of the door without lifting the rollers of the track follower from the track and which permits a relatively large lateral adjustment of the door.

:It is a still further object of this invention to provide a sliding door hanger including a clevice and a rod-like portion supported by the clevice and attached to the door in which the Weight of the door is not applied to the supporting point of the rod-like portion within the clevice at a position off-center (to the supporting point.

in accordance with the above and other objects, sliding door hardware is provided having a track mounted above the door and parallel to the top of the door. A track follower is mounted upon the track for movement therewith and supports a hanger. T he hanger includes a clevice having a slot in its bottom, which slot has a portion that is orthogonal to the door. A bolt is mounted in the clevice with its head supported by the top of the clevice and its shank extending through this slot and through a hole in a cross-piece of the sliding door. A not is threaded upon the end of the bolt and supports the door from the bottom of the cross-piece. This nut is screwed up or down upon the shank portion of the bolt to adjust the vertical position of the door. The bolt is moved laterally within the slot in the clevice to adjust the lateral position of the door.

The bolt is constructed so that it may conveniently be moved laterally between its forward and its rearward position with respect to the door. To accomplish this, the head of the bolt has the shape of a thin disc which is confined by the sides of the clevice. The shank of the bolt is mounted eccentrically upon the disc. The slot in the bottom of the clevice through which the shank protrudes is in the shape of a semicircle extending between the forward and rearward side of the clevice. As the bolt is turned by the shank portion, shank and disc rotate about the center of the disc. The shank follows the semi-circular slot assuming different lateral positions with respect to the door jamb.

An alternate manner of moving the shank portion of the bolt back and forth with respect to the door jam b is to include a set of gear teeth upon the shank of the bolt adj acent to the edges of the slot. In this configuration the slot is orthogonal to the door and contains mating teeth on one side. As the bolt is rotated within the slot the gear teeth of the shank and slot engage and the shank is moved latena'lly with respect to the door jamb.

In both of these configurations the lateral position may be maintained by locking the bolt against further rotation. '1 accomplish this, the end of the bolt contains two flat portions that are adapted to receive a disc having a matching aperture through its center. This disc may move up and down on the shank portion of the bolt. It includes a plurality of screw holes near its edge by which the disc may be hastened to the bottom of the cross-piece in the sliding door. Accordingly, the lateral adjustment of the door may be obtained by turning the bolt. This position is fixed by then fastening the circular disc to the bottom of the crosspiece with drive screws.

The above noted and other features of the invention will be more :fully and completely understood from the following detailed description when considered with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view partially in section, illustrating a sliding door hanger in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side view, partially in section, of the embodiment of FIGURE 1, indicating two lateral positions of the door;

'FIGURE 3 is a sectioal view taken through lines 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken through lines 4-4 of FIGURE 1 FIGURE 5 is an elevational view, partially in section, of another embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 6 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG- URE 5 and FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken through lines 7-7 of FIGURE 5.

In FIGURE 1 the sliding door hardware 10 is shown supporting the cross-piece 1-2 on the op of a sliding door. A track follower 14 is movably mounted to the track member 16 and supports a hanger 1 8 to which the door 12 is affixed.

The track follower 14 includes a body portion 20 and two rollers 22 and 24. The rollers 22 and 24 engage within the track 16, which is in the form of an invented U having inwardly extending flanges 26 and '28, each defining a groove and supporting a different ilange of the two rollers 22 and 24. The track follower 14 also includes an aperture 60 at its bottom portion, which aperture provides a mounting for the hanger =18.

lA clevice 32 pivotally mounts the hanger 118 to the track follower 20 by means of a pin 34 passing through the aperture '30 and each of two aligned apertures in two flanges 31 and 33 of the clevice 32, which flanges overlap the opposite sides of the aperture 30. A bolt or rod 36 passes through the bottom 38 of the clevice 32 and is supported thereon by the bolt head 40. The shank of the bolt passes through the cross-piece '12 at the top of the door. It includes a threaded portion 42 at its bottom end upon which a nut 44 may be threaded to support the cross-piece 1 2 of the door. The threaded portion '42 of the bolt has a noncircular cross-section which conforms to the slot in the center of a washer 46 that is positioned between the crosspiece 12 and the bolt 36. The washer 46 includes a plurality of apertures 48 near its periphery as best can be seen in FIGURE 4. These apertures accommodate drive screws 49, two of which are shown in FIGURES 1 and 5, by which the washer 46 may be fastened to the cross-piece 12 to prevent rotation of the bolt 36 therewith as will be hereinafter better explained.

As can best be seen in FIGURE 3, the bottom 38 of the clevice 32 includes a semi-circular slot 50 through which the shank of the bolt 36 passes. The head of the bolt 36 has a circular cross-section with the same center of curveture as the semi-circular slot '50 and with a radius equal to the radius of the outer edge of the slot 50. The semi'circular slot has a width that is approximately equal to the diameter of the shank of the bolt 36 with which it engages. A-s the bolt 36 is turned, the shank portion turns about the center of the curvature of both the bolt head 40 and the semi-circular slot 50 to assume a different position within the semi-circular slot 50 for each angular position of the bolt 36.

The turning of the bolt 36 causes it to move laterally with respect to the clevice 32 assuming different positions between its forward edge 52 and its rear edge 54. This enables the door to be shifted laterally with respect to the door jamb to which the rail 16 is mounted. The bolt 36 is grasped by the flat portions of its threaded end 42 and turned counter-clockwise to rotate the shank to a position closest to its rear edge 54. This positions the door at its closest location to the door jarnb as indicated by the solid lines showing the cross-piece 12 in FIGURE 2. The bolt 36 is rotated in a clockwise direction to move it towards the outermost edge 52 of the clevice 32. The door then assumes a position furthest from the door jamb as indicated by the dotted lines showing the crosspiece 12 in FIGURE 2.

The door may be held in any position by locking the bolt 36 against further rotation. This is done, as mentioned above, by locking the washer 46 to the crosspiece 12 by means of drive screws inserted through the apertures 48.

In FIGURES 5, 6 and 7, a second embodiment of the invention is shown, which embodiment utilizes the same track 16, track follower 14, washer 46, and nut 44. The hanger 18 however utilizes a different technique for changing the lateral position of the bolt 36. In this embodiment the bottom of the clevice 32 includes a slot 56 having a longitudinal axis perpendicular to the door jam-b and having teeth 58 cut into one of its lateral sides.

The opposite lateral sides of the slot 56 include the curved portions 60 and 62 which accommodate the teeth 64 mounted upon the bottom side of the head 65 of the bolt 36. These teeth engage with the teeth 58 in the slot as the bolt 36 is rotated to move the shank of the bolt 36 laterally between the forward edge 52 and the rear edge 54 of the clevice 32. In the two extreme angular and lateral positions of the bolt 36, the teeth 64 are adjacent to the curved portions 60 or 62 of the lateral edge. The forward and rearward ends of the slot 56 also have the curved portions 66 and 68 respectively which are shaped to accommodate the shank of the bolt 36.

The shank of the bolt 36 is grasped at the bottom of its threaded portion 42 and rotated in a counter-clockwise directio until its circular portion rests in the groove 68. In this position the door is closest to the door ja-mb and some of the teeth 64 engage teeth at the innermost edge of the rack of teeth 58' and other teeth rest in the curved groove 60 on the opposite side of the slot 56 from the teeth 58. If the shank of the bolt 36 is rotated in a clockwise direction, the teeth 64 engage in the rack of teeth 58 to move the bolt 36 towards the front edge 52 of the clevice 32. This moves the door out from the door jamb. When the door is in its foremost position as shown by the dotted lines of the cross-piece 12 in FIGURE 6, the portion of the shank of the bolt 36 that does not bear teeth rests in the groove 66 and the teeth 64 are partially in the forward edge of the rack of teeth 58 and partially in the groove 62. The bolt 36 may be fixed into position at any location between the forward and rearward edge of the clevice 32 by means of the washer 46 as explained in connection with the previous embodiment. In both embodiments of the invention disclosed herein the door is mounted to a track follower 14 by means of a hanger 18. The hanger includes a clevice 32 having its axis of rotation parallel to a rail upon which the track follower is mounted. This permits the door to swing outward at its bottom about a pin 34 of the clevice,

The hangers 18 also each include a bolt 36, a washer 46 and a nut 44. The shank of the bolt 36 passes through the top cross-piece of the door so that its threaded end 42 protrudes from the bottom. The nut 44 engages the threaded portion 42 to support the door from the bottom of the cross-piece 12. The threaded end 42 of the bolt has a non-circular cross section which conforms to a slot in the washer 46 positioned around the shank of the bolt 36 between the cross-piece 12 and the nut 44.

The washer 46 may be rigidly attached to the crosspiece 12 by means of drive screws that pass through the apertures 48. When this is done the bolt 36 is fixed in position and cannot turn.

The angular position of the bolt 36 determines the lateral position of the door. The proper lateral position is obtained by removing the drive screws from the washer 46 and turning the bolt 36. As the bolt 36, turns its lateral position within the slot at the bottom of the clevice 32 is also changed. When the proper lateral position is obtained the drive screws are inserted again through the washer 46 so as to prevent further rotation of the bolt 36. The door is now adjusted both vertically and laterally so as not to bind with either the floor or the sides of the building.

If the floor 'heaves or warps to lift the door, the washer 46 moves with the cross-piece 12 so that the lateral adjustment of the door does not change. The cross-piece 12 may be moved until it engages with the bottom of the clevice 32 or the teeth 64 in the shaft 36 without impairing the operation of the sliding door hardware.

It is obvious that many modifications and variations may be made in the embodiments of the invention described above without deviating from the teachings of this invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A hanger for attaching a sliding door to a track follower engaged with a longitudinal track mounted above a doorway, said hanger comprising:

a support having an inner edge and an outer edge and being adapted to be attached to said track follower with its outer edge further away from said doorway than its inner edge;

said support having an open portion defining a slot extending in a direction between its outer edge and its inner edge;

first adjustment means for laterally moving said door with respect to said doorway, whereby said door is positioned laterally with respect to said track;

said first adjustment means including a rod having a head supported by said support and a longitudinal portion extending through said slot and adapted to be engaged with a portion of said door to support said door for longitudinal sliding movement relative to said doorway, said rod depending eccentrically from said head through said slot, said slot having the same radius of curvature as said head, said support including portions confining said head about its periphery, whereby said rod is moved within said slot about said center of the curvature as said rod is rotated about its own axis; and

second adjustment means on said rod, cooperable with said door, for limiting movement of the latter relative to said rod in a direction vertically away from said track to vertically position the door relative to the track.

2. A hanger in accordance with claim 1 in which said slot is in the form of a curved slot having a first end near the outer edge of said hanger support and a second end near the inner edge of said hanger support.

3. A hanger in accordance with claim 1, further including a lock means, engageable with said door, for maintaining said rod in an adjustable angular position.

4. A hanger in accordance with claim 3 in which the end of said rod remote from said follower is non-circular in cross-section and said lock means includes a disc having a non-circular aperture matching said cross-section and engaged therearound, said disc including a means for rigidly afiixing it with respect to said door.

5. A hanger in accordance with claim 4 in which the non-circular end of said rod is also threaded, and said first adjustment means is a threaded nut engaged with the threads on said rod, said disc being interposed between said nut and the cross-piece of said door such that rotation of said nut effects a vertical adjustment of said door.

6. Sliding door hardware comprising:

a track;

a track follower adapted to engage with said track;

a clevice pivotally connected to said follower and having a base forming a planer support;

said base of said clevice having an open portion defining a slot;

a rod extending through said slot and movably supported at its upper end by the top of said base;

the bottom end of said rod being threaded and having a non-circular cross-section;

said rod having a portion adjacent to said clevice;

said portion including a means cooperated with said clevice for causing said rod to assume a different position within said slot for each different angular position on said rod;

a disc having a non-circular aperture matching the cross-section of said threaded portion of said rod, said threaded portion being slidably inserted into the aperture in said disc; and

a nut threaded on the threaded end of said rod to retain said disc thereon.

7. Sliding door hardware in accordance with claim 6 in which said means for causing said rod to assume a different lateral position includes a circular disc mounted eccentrically to the top of said rod, supporting said rod on said base, said slot and said disc having the same radius of curvature.

8. Sliding door hardware in accordance with claim 6 in which said means for causing said rod to assume a different lateral position comprises a plurality of gear teeth positioned on said rod and a rack out along one edge of said slot.

9. A hanger for attaching a sliding door to a track follower engaged with a longitudinal track mounted above a doorway, said hanger comprising:

a support having an inner edge and an outer edge and being adapted to be attached to said track follower with its outer edge further away from said doorway than its inner edge;

first adjustment means for laterally moving said door with respect to said doorway, whereby said door is positioned laterally with respect to said track;

said first adjustment means including a rod having a head supported by said support and a longitudinal portion extending through said slot and adapted to be engaged 'with a portion of said door to support said door for longitudinal sliding movement relative to said doorway, said first adjusting means including 7 8 a plurality of gear teeth mounted upon the longi- References Cited tudinal pOI'tlOH Of said rod adjacent to the edges Of P said slot, said slot including a plurality of mating gear teeth along an edge orthogonal to the plane of i fif said doorway jamb, whereby said rod is positioned 5 3242535 3/1966 i 16 105 laterally by its angular postion within said slot; and second adjustment means on said rod, cooperable with BOBBY R, GAY, Primary E i said door, for llmitmg rnoyement of the latter rela- A. CALVERT Assistant Examiner. tive to sard rod m a dlrectlon vertically away from said track to vertically position the door relative 10 US, Cl, X R,

to the track. 16-105; 160-123 

